Project Description
Brent Spence Bridge Fire & Repair
Submitted by the Derby City Section
Construction Cost | $5,000,000 | |
Project Location | Over the Ohio River between Covington, KY and Cincinnati Ohio | |
Project Owner | Kentucky Transportation Cabinet | |
Project Designer | Michael Baker International | |
Contractor | Kokosing Construction Company, Inc. | |
Completion Date | December 22, 2020 |

Project Description
The Brent Spence Bridge is a double-decker, cantilevered truss that carries Interstates 71 and 75 across the Ohio River between Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. A major thoroughfare for both local and national traffic with an ADT of 160,000, the bridge’s northbound traffic is carried by the lower deck while southbound traffic is carried by the upper deck.
On November 11. 2020, a truck accident caused a major fire on the bridge, damaging the bridge’s upper deck floor system steel, drainage, deck, barriers, and electrical components and the lower deck’s overlay, barriers, and electrical components.
This project was the emergency repairs to the bridge. The bridge reopened on December 22, 2020, just 41 days after the initial incident.
Project Features
- Forty-one days from the accident to reopening both the roadway and the river to traffic